Effect of cortisol levels on working memory performance in elderly subjects with Alzheimer's disease.
BACKGROUND
Subjects with Alzheimer's disease (AD) have elevated cortisol levels as a result of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis dysfunction. Acute administration of hydrocortisone has been associated with working memory (WM) performance in young adults.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate whether cortisol levels are associated with WM performance in subjects with AD.


METHODS
Eighty subjects were included, comprising 40 patients with mild AD and 40 healthy elderly controls. WM was assessed using the Digit Span Backward test (DSB). Saliva samples were collected to determine cortisol levels.


RESULTS
AD subjects had poorer performance on the DSB than controls (p=0.002) and also presented higher levels of cortisol than control group (p=0.04). No significant correlation was observed between the DSB and cortisol levels in both groups (r= -0.29).


CONCLUSIONS
In this study, elevated cortisol levels were not associated with poorer WM performance in patients with AD or in healthy elderly subjects.
Souza-Talarico
Juliana Nery de
JN
Department of Medical-Surgical Nursing, School of Nursing, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Caramelli
Paulo
P
Nitrini
Ricardo
R
Chaves
Eliane Corrêa
EC
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000503:physiopathology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000032:analysis*; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012463:Saliva / Q000737:chemistry*
D006854:Hydrocortisone